Set Phasers to Awesome: Star Trek Into Darkness Review

Set a course for the nearest movie theater. Maximum warp. Star Trek Into Darkness is the kind of movie for which the term 'summer blockbuster' seems tailor made. From its very first frame to its climatic final showdown(s), Into Darkness is a rip-roaring, frantically paced, non-stop roller coaster ride of a movie that still manages to pack quite a bit of heart and humor into its running length. Don't let the 'Darkness' in the title fool you; this is escapist moviegoing at its best and it's an absolute blast.

Alright, so I'm going to forgo anything remotely resembling a plot description to avoid spoiling any of the major twists and turns that await you. (Believe me, there are plenty and you won't want them ruined and I shall not be the one to do so) Be warned, though, as very, very minor spoilers may await you here.

As many of you already know, I'm a big fan of what Abrams and co. did with the 2009 reboot of Star Trek. It felt like a breath of fresh air, reinjecting the franchise with new life and successfully ushering in a whole new legion of fans who couldn't have cared less about Star Trek previously. It was a superb reimagining of the Trek universe, upping the action while keeping its focus on what has always been Trek's finest staple: its characters. Sure, the long-winded philosophical discussions were all but extinguished, but this was in favor of an excitement level that previous Trek iterations could only dream of reaching.

Star Trek Into Darkness continues this trend, but ups the thrills to even greater heights. It's practically one set piece after the other, each as exhilirating as the last, if not more so. Abrams has a deft talent when it comes to crafting rousing action sequences and he directs these and his cast with unmistakable zeal, keeping things up and running at a breakneck speed that would make Spielberg proud. That's not to say Into Darkness isn't without its fair amount of flaws though. These are largely due to a slightly lazy screenplay coined by the pair who wrote the screenplay for the 2009 reboot: Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, this time joined by Damon Lindelof of Lost fame. I call it slightly lazy because the screenwriting team borrows almost too slavishly from some of the best stories in the Star Trek archives. In fact, some of the movie's most affecting moments are stolen practically beat for beat and line for line from earlier films in the franchise, severely diminishing the emotional impact they seem to be aiming for. It comes across as more of a cheap imitation than a thoughtful homage and it robs Into Darkness of the sense of freshness that marked its predecessor.

But what Into Darkness lacks in storytelling prowess, it more than makes up for in pure spectacle and, most importantly, in developing its characters' relationships, providing the film with much needed heart and soul. As with the previous film, the primary focus relationship-wise is on the bromance between Kirk and Spock. Chris Pine's Kirk is still cocky and headstrong, but there are some new shades to the character as well and some powerful lessons left to be learned here before he can truly earn the title of  'Captain.' Zachary Quinto is, to put it bluntly, totally badass as Spock and I really love what he's doing with the character. He simultaneously honors Nimoy's iconic performance while adding his own unique spin. The chemistry between these two is unmistakable and makes all their scenes together a joy to watch.

Big Baddie John Harrison, played to perfection by Benedict "How 'bout that Baritone?" Cumberbatch, serves as a formidable foe for the Enterprise and her crew and Zoe Saldana continues to make the character of Uhura her own in all sorts of awesome ways. Even Scotty gets some geat moments here and, as far as I'm concerned, the more Simon Pegg you have in a movie, the better. With the exception of these main players, though, the rest of the supporting cast is painfully underdeveloped. Most disappointingly, Karl Urban's McCoy is criminally underutilized and doesn't get to do much more than spout quippy one-liners when the occasion calls for it. Considering how beloved this character is (And his larger role in both the television show and the earlier films), as well as Urban's superb talents, it's kind of a bummer to see 'Bones' reduced to this level. Sulu and Chekhov (John Cho and Anton Yelchin respectively) also struggle for screen time, but thankfully they each get nice moments to make up for it. (One of the best moments in the movie is Chekhov's reaction to Kirk ordering him to don the infamous red shirt) The same can't be said for Alice Eve's character Carol Markus, who serves practically no purpose other than to strip down to her bra and panties to satisfy drooling males the world over. Peter Weller as Carol's father fares a bit better, but still suffers from shallow characterization.

But despite these underdeveloped supporting roles and the screenplay's overreliance on milking previous Star Trek films for their iconic moments rather than paving its own way into a new frontier, Star Trek Into Darkness is pure entertainment from start to finish. Fans should be mostly pleased, depending on how willing they are to go along with Abrams' action-oriented vision for the long-running franchise. Even those who are still sour about this direction will probably have to begrudgingly admit that as far as big-budget, blockbusting entertainment goes, Into Darkness is a huge success.

FINAL RATING: 4/5